I have an older Mt Vernon, Non AE model. When I turn up the thermostat, I hear a few clicks, the fan comes on, and the red light does not. The red light does not come on and no pellets feed. Nothing basically happens. If I unplug the unit a few times, wait a few seconds, I can get it to fire up and appear to run normal. Anyone familiar with this stove. I leave out in the boonies and cannot get a repairman to come to the house, even where I brought it from. I dont mind trying to fix but would like an idea where to start. Could this be the control box going bad, The auger???? I havnt a clue. I truly appreciate any help from someone familar with this stove.
Looking for help Quadrafire. Non AE Mt Vernon.
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Lake Girl
Moderator
Hopefully kappel15 chimes in on this ... a tech very familiar (and owner of) Quadrafire pellet stoves. Try searching old threads too. Always unplug your stove when working on it.
The manual can be found here: http://downloads.hearthnhome.com/installManuals/7005_151.pdf page 24 "No Call Light"
Start working through the troubleshooting list ... easy place to start is the thermostat connections. If the thermostat requires batteries, start there with fresh ones.
Keep us posted...
The manual can be found here: http://downloads.hearthnhome.com/installManuals/7005_151.pdf page 24 "No Call Light"
Start working through the troubleshooting list ... easy place to start is the thermostat connections. If the thermostat requires batteries, start there with fresh ones.
Keep us posted...
How long have you owned your stove and what, if any maintance has been done to it? Have you changed the door gasket in the last few years? When was the last time the hopper was emptied and all the fines at the bottom vacumned out? Have you ever taken off the vaccume hose and blown it out. Has the nipple it attaches to been made sure it's not blocked?
Most of my questions are to get some basic info on what has been done maintance wise to your stove. When was the last time the batteries were changed in both the wall thermostat and the stove reciever? Have you checked to make sure the clean out door on the bottom of the fire pot is closed all the way and that the 4 holes in the burnpot are cleaned and open.
Has the stove been unplugged all summer and is the stove plugged into a surge protector? When was the last time the stove internals and the stove pipe was clean?
Answer some of these questions and we will see if we can help you out.
Your stove operates under a vaccume system and if there are any leaks, like from a bad door gasket it will not start. It sounds to me that maybe your first place to start is to change all the batteries if they have not been changed in the last year. Usually if a control board is bad your stove won't start no matter what you do so my guess is you have other issues going on.'
Most of my questions are to get some basic info on what has been done maintance wise to your stove. When was the last time the batteries were changed in both the wall thermostat and the stove reciever? Have you checked to make sure the clean out door on the bottom of the fire pot is closed all the way and that the 4 holes in the burnpot are cleaned and open.
Has the stove been unplugged all summer and is the stove plugged into a surge protector? When was the last time the stove internals and the stove pipe was clean?
Answer some of these questions and we will see if we can help you out.
Your stove operates under a vaccume system and if there are any leaks, like from a bad door gasket it will not start. It sounds to me that maybe your first place to start is to change all the batteries if they have not been changed in the last year. Usually if a control board is bad your stove won't start no matter what you do so my guess is you have other issues going on.'
Wow, I really appreciate the help. I would guess Ive owned the stove for 6-7 years. I bought the last year before the AE model came out. Only maintenance that has been done is what Ive done. I changed one of the blowers last year due to it getting too loud. I did change all the door gaskets last year. Tonight, hopefully I will have time, I will do a good general cleaning. My thermostat does not have any batteries. Has a hard wire from where its on the wall to back of stove. I always check to make sure bottom of fire pit is closed. I will check tonight for the four holes. No surge protector. Ive never cleaned or blown out a vacuum hose or checked the nipple. Where would the vacuum hose be??? Just tried to start it again and the fan, or what I think is the fan, came on on no red light or feed. I toggled the thermostat off and on a few times and the red light came on, it fed, started and ran normal and now its hot as hell in here, lol.
Peterfield
Minister of Fire
Hi,
The reason I mentioned the thermostat batteries is that most of the stoves were sold with a Quadrafire labeled thermostat. It consisted of the wall thermostat which has batteries and a reciever unit that hooks onto the 2 screws which your thermostat wires hook to which also has batteries. For right now I would unplug the stove and disconnect the thermostat wires. Put a jumper wire in its place to take your thermostat out of the mix of things that might be bad.
When you stick your head into the stove and look into the fire pot as the 4 holes I mentioned are at the bottom of the slanted back piece. These need to be open and stay open in order for your stove to work. When you clean them out the debris will fall into the ash bin or onto the pot clean out door if it's open while you do your cleaning. There are other holes around the inside of the firepot that need to be kept open also. They are much bigger like 7/16" or so. They are hard to miss.
If it's been a while since you have brushed the inside of your exhaust pipes you should tackle that ASAP. You should also drop the top section of the firebox lid down and give the heat tubes and related areas a good cleaning. I believe the socket screw is 5/16" and can be somewhat hard to turn if it been a while since it was last off. It's located on the upper front edge of the top. Be VERY careful you don't drop the cast iron top piece onto the white ceramic thermocouple cover. Probably best to put a old bath towel over the fire pot to protect the ceramic cover. As the top lid is pretty heavy. Once all this is cleaned put it back together. My stove has a rope gasket on the bottom back edge. I've heard some do and some don't have this rope gasket.
Time to go inside the stove and clean out the vacumne hose I mentioned. You will need to take both sides of the stove off. Looking in from the right side you will see a black rubber tube coming off the augar tube. This needs to be removed and a paper clip should be pressed into the nipple the remains once the tube is off. On the other side, the left looking at the stove, you will see the other end of the rubber hose going to a device that is mounted on the inner back of the stove. Take the hose off this device which is the vaccume switch. Blow the hose out. I will suggest for you to take off the vaccume switch which can be a PIA to do and to lightly tap it against a table or your hand to get whatever saw dust you can out of it. Don't get carried away as there is a diaphragm inside and it can be damaged if hit to hard. No need to put the sides back on yet. You should take the 4 screws, I believe they are wing nuts If I rememer correctly, off the big square cover that is part of the exhaust pathway on the right hand side of the stove and clean out this entire area on both sides. Be careful not to damage the fan blades on the combustion fan. Put everything back together except the sides.
Time to empty out the hopper and clean out all the fines at the bottom. You will be amazed to see all the fines if this hasn't been done for a while or if your using dusty pellets. I usually keep vacuuming the dust and pellets out until the augar screw is completely empty. When done add pellets back into the hopper. Re plug the stove in with the thermostat jumper in place and turn the knob to number 4 or its highest setting. You will need to push the reset button a bunch of times until you see or hear pellets start dropping into the firepot.
Report back what happens. If everything works ok then unplug your stove and hook your thermostat back up. If you now have the same problems then you most likely have a bad thermostat.
It is advised to put your stove on a surge protector with a high joules rating, somewhere around 3,000, and not a GFI surge protector.
Good luck and if you've already done some of what I've mentioned just skip it as I don't know what has and hadn't been done.
The reason I mentioned the thermostat batteries is that most of the stoves were sold with a Quadrafire labeled thermostat. It consisted of the wall thermostat which has batteries and a reciever unit that hooks onto the 2 screws which your thermostat wires hook to which also has batteries. For right now I would unplug the stove and disconnect the thermostat wires. Put a jumper wire in its place to take your thermostat out of the mix of things that might be bad.
When you stick your head into the stove and look into the fire pot as the 4 holes I mentioned are at the bottom of the slanted back piece. These need to be open and stay open in order for your stove to work. When you clean them out the debris will fall into the ash bin or onto the pot clean out door if it's open while you do your cleaning. There are other holes around the inside of the firepot that need to be kept open also. They are much bigger like 7/16" or so. They are hard to miss.
If it's been a while since you have brushed the inside of your exhaust pipes you should tackle that ASAP. You should also drop the top section of the firebox lid down and give the heat tubes and related areas a good cleaning. I believe the socket screw is 5/16" and can be somewhat hard to turn if it been a while since it was last off. It's located on the upper front edge of the top. Be VERY careful you don't drop the cast iron top piece onto the white ceramic thermocouple cover. Probably best to put a old bath towel over the fire pot to protect the ceramic cover. As the top lid is pretty heavy. Once all this is cleaned put it back together. My stove has a rope gasket on the bottom back edge. I've heard some do and some don't have this rope gasket.
Time to go inside the stove and clean out the vacumne hose I mentioned. You will need to take both sides of the stove off. Looking in from the right side you will see a black rubber tube coming off the augar tube. This needs to be removed and a paper clip should be pressed into the nipple the remains once the tube is off. On the other side, the left looking at the stove, you will see the other end of the rubber hose going to a device that is mounted on the inner back of the stove. Take the hose off this device which is the vaccume switch. Blow the hose out. I will suggest for you to take off the vaccume switch which can be a PIA to do and to lightly tap it against a table or your hand to get whatever saw dust you can out of it. Don't get carried away as there is a diaphragm inside and it can be damaged if hit to hard. No need to put the sides back on yet. You should take the 4 screws, I believe they are wing nuts If I rememer correctly, off the big square cover that is part of the exhaust pathway on the right hand side of the stove and clean out this entire area on both sides. Be careful not to damage the fan blades on the combustion fan. Put everything back together except the sides.
Time to empty out the hopper and clean out all the fines at the bottom. You will be amazed to see all the fines if this hasn't been done for a while or if your using dusty pellets. I usually keep vacuuming the dust and pellets out until the augar screw is completely empty. When done add pellets back into the hopper. Re plug the stove in with the thermostat jumper in place and turn the knob to number 4 or its highest setting. You will need to push the reset button a bunch of times until you see or hear pellets start dropping into the firepot.
Report back what happens. If everything works ok then unplug your stove and hook your thermostat back up. If you now have the same problems then you most likely have a bad thermostat.
It is advised to put your stove on a surge protector with a high joules rating, somewhere around 3,000, and not a GFI surge protector.
Good luck and if you've already done some of what I've mentioned just skip it as I don't know what has and hadn't been done.
Bkins,
Thanks for your help on my stove. I believe the culprit was in fact the Thermostat however my Quad thermostat was hard wire one. Im a master technician, I popped the cover off, wiggle a few things, put the cover back on and its been working fine ever since, lol.
I do have a quick question though. Here is a part of your response so you can remember my post. My Mt Vernon also has a rope gasket for the top cover. When I removed this awhile back, it just fell off and Ive been having a hard time figuring out exactly where it goes. I have replacement gasket rope. Where exactly does it go and should I cement it down????
I really appreciate your help. Thanks Kevin
Thanks for your help on my stove. I believe the culprit was in fact the Thermostat however my Quad thermostat was hard wire one. Im a master technician, I popped the cover off, wiggle a few things, put the cover back on and its been working fine ever since, lol.
I do have a quick question though. Here is a part of your response so you can remember my post. My Mt Vernon also has a rope gasket for the top cover. When I removed this awhile back, it just fell off and Ive been having a hard time figuring out exactly where it goes. I have replacement gasket rope. Where exactly does it go and should I cement it down????
I really appreciate your help. Thanks Kevin
Hi Kevin,
Several active Quad threads on thermostat issues going on. I would hope the newer version Quads have improved on their thermostat quality, as the OEM Quad thermostats on the older generation stoves are notoriously poor quality. Many Quad owners have gone to the Lux or Honeywell stats, with wireless getting good reviews. As Lake Girl said, use the search function and you'll find lots of past discussion threads on thermostat options. Bkins cleaning suggestions are spot-on. A clean stove is a happy, and efficient burning stove !
Regards, DK
Several active Quad threads on thermostat issues going on. I would hope the newer version Quads have improved on their thermostat quality, as the OEM Quad thermostats on the older generation stoves are notoriously poor quality. Many Quad owners have gone to the Lux or Honeywell stats, with wireless getting good reviews. As Lake Girl said, use the search function and you'll find lots of past discussion threads on thermostat options. Bkins cleaning suggestions are spot-on. A clean stove is a happy, and efficient burning stove !
Regards, DK
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Hi Kevin,
My stove doesn't, and never has had a gasket for the top fill lid cover. I couldn't tell you why one might be there. Some stoves do have gaskets around the fill lid as my Harman insert does and the insert will not operate correctly without it being in place.
If your talking about a different gasket ask again and I'll see if I can help you.
David
My stove doesn't, and never has had a gasket for the top fill lid cover. I couldn't tell you why one might be there. Some stoves do have gaskets around the fill lid as my Harman insert does and the insert will not operate correctly without it being in place.
If your talking about a different gasket ask again and I'll see if I can help you.
David
Im talking about the top section of the firebox that drops down to expose the heat tubes. There was a gasket that was either on the top section of the top peice or the rear section. You mention this gasket on your post, noting some do have it and some dont. Mine has or should I said had. Its difficult to determine where it should go. Looking to know where it goes and if I should cement it down. I really appreciate your help and your time. Im not the most technically inclined person.
Hi,
Yes mine does have a rope gasket that just sits on the top of the back panel, the one that has the feeder hole in it. The first gasket that came out of that area was very mangled and it looked like a flat gasket when it came out I just replaced it with some rope gasket that I had, 5/8" as I remember. I just laid it on the back upper surface and installed the upper baffle cover to help hold it in place. I asked for help from my wife to hold the panel in place while I tightened to bolt. It seemed hard for me to do by myself for whatever reason. My read on it is it's there to seal the bottom of the top baffle plate. I'm sure any gasket you have will work
My stove has worked fine since putting it in.
David
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